We are less than six weeks away from our initial gathering in Birmingham on Saturday, October 21, 2017. Please read this bulletin carefully for travel information and reading/viewing resources to help you make the most of our week together. All the details are coming together and I know we will have an incredible journey. I can’t wait!StaffWe expect to have about forty-five people total on the bus including six Living Legacy Pilgrimage staff:

Reggie Harris, musician and LLP musical director

Jan Sneegas, logistics and team support staff

Pam Zappardino, logistics and team support staff

Joseph Selmon, tour guide

Clarence Jones, driver

Annette Marquis, Pilgrimage coordinator

In addition, leaders from Coming to the Table, our partners in this Pilgrimage, will be working with us to help everyone process and integrate the week.Roommates and RosterIn the next couple of weeks, we’ll send you a roster of everyone who will be on the trip, their email addresses, and home cities and states. The roster will also include roommate assignments. So, for those of you who asked us to assign a roommate, you’ll be able to be in touch with each other beforehand, if you want to get to know each other a little.Lodging in BirminghamWe will be staying at the Holiday Inn Birmingham-Airport, 5000 Richard Arrington Jr Blvd N, Birmingham, AL 35212, 877-859-5095. If you plan to arrive early or stay after we return and want to reserve a room directly with the hotel for those nights, give them the group name “Living Legacy Pilgrimage” and the rate of $99. If you have any problem reserving at this rate, please let me know. They’ve had some personnel changes and I’m not certain everything is entered correctly in their system yet.You might also choose to shop around at general hotel websites because, if you want to go that route, you could possibly get a better online rate.Travel to BirminghamHopefully, by now you’ve made arrangements for travel to Birmingham or at least have an idea of your mode of transportation. If you’re flying into Birmingham-Shuttlesworth International Airport (BHM), we suggest doing a little research into the amazing life of Fred Shuttlesworth. We’ll be visiting his former church on Sunday morning!The Holiday Inn Birmingham-Airport offers shuttle service from the airport, which is less than 10 minutes from the hotel. Just call the hotel at 877-859-5095 when you arrive and they’ll come to pick you up.If you’re driving to Birmingham, be sure to let the front desk know when you check in so you can get a parking pass for your car.If you need a ride from the bus or train station, let me know when you’re expected to arrive and we’ll arrange to have someone pick you up.If you plan to leave us in Memphis on Saturday, October 28, please make arrangements to get you to your next destination from the National Civil Rights Museum. We will be finishing up there around noon and heading back to Birmingham. If you’re planning to go directly to the airport, let me know, and we might be able to drop you off on our way out of town.Packing and WeatherIndications are the temperatures should be in the 70s during the day and 50s at night with lots of sunshine, i.e., PERFECT! However, after the past two weeks, we all know that could change in an instant. We suggest you pack lightly layered clothing, a sweater and rain jacket, for example, to keep you comfortable in any weather we might experience.Sunday, October 22 is the only day you will need “church clothes.” We will be attending services at Bethel Baptist Church of Collegeville, the Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth’s former church, and then having lunch and a program at Historic Bethel Baptist Church. We ask that you dress up (at least a little) for the occasion. If you want to leave your dress clothes in Birmingham, you're welcome to put them in my car (as long as you remember to claim them when we get back to Birmingham or Diversity Thrift in Richmond will receive a nice donation!). Plan to wear comfortable clothes and good walking shoes. You will have to lug your suitcase into the hotel and back again every day so we suggest you pack lightly. We don't care if you wear the same outfit more than once (as long as you shower regularly!).Those of us who have spent a lot of time on the bus have found that a small day pack works well in the overhead bin or on the floor by your feet to hold the stuff you might need during the day.Also, please remember to pack a water bottle. We will have some bottled water for those who need it but, for the environment's sake, we don't want to purchase too much of it. We'll also have some snacks on the bus, but bring whatever you know you'll want (or need) with you so you're not disappointed that we didn't get your favorite kind.Advance Reading/Viewing Focused on the History of White Supremacy in USIn preparation for our time together, in order to create a “common base” of awareness for all participants, you are encouraged to read/view the following resources in advance, which are listed in order of importance for our time together; with the readings considered essential grounding information:If you are not familiar with Coming to the Table, please visit the home page and look around: http://comingtothetable.org/Essential reading:

Watch one or both of the following films, and/or the two online videos:

I Am Not Your Negro(available on DVD). From the New York Times: “Whatever you think about the past and future of what used to be called ‘race relations’ – white supremacy and the resistance to it, in plainer English – this movie will make you think again, and may even change your mind… you would be hard-pressed to find a movie that speaks to the present moment with greater clarity and force, insisting on uncomfortable truths and drawing stark lessons from the shadows of history.”

The Ghost in Your Genes: An introduction to the discovery of epigenetics – hidden influences upon the genes – could affect every aspect of our lives, and help explain how historical traumatic harms, such as the legacy of slavery, continues to impact us – in our very DNA – today.

Other movies that provide background for this tour are SELMA, and THE LONG WALK HOME. Both are available from your favorite streaming service.

Social Media/WritingIf you're into social media, or even if you're not and you'd like to learn, we appreciate all the tweeting, Facebooking, Instagramming, blogging, and whatever other social media you want to share. We invite you to document as much of your journey as you want, from packing until you return home again, for the folks back home, for future pilgrims, and for your own memories. Please use hashtag #LLP17 so we can identify your posts and share them on the Living Legacy Pilgrimage and Coming to the Table platforms.That's all for now. Questions? Feel free to contact us at livinglegacypilgrimage@gmail.com.